Fanatic About the Playoffs | 76ers Seize Control in Game 2

the Playoffs? You ask? It is our brand new postseason podcast series with us here at the seventy Sixers podcast network, presented by DraftKings and our pals at ninety seventy five of The Fanatic, the radio home of the seventy Sixers in the Delaware Valley, with new episodes dropping the day after every single Sixers playoff game. I'm Brian Seltzer. It is a true privilege to be joined on this episode by a pair of dignitaries in the audio content space.

One is the radio voice of the Philadelphia seventy six or twenty five years in running, the one and only Tom McGinnis, and the other is from ninety seven to five, host of The John Kincaid Show Morning six to ten, John Kincaid himself, John, Welcome home, Welcome to the pod. How are you. Thank you very much. Great to see Tom too, I said, I've I've been wanting to meet Tom McGinnis since I came home. So I'm very excited

and Brian, good chance to see you. We're getting out of the pandemic and we've got a six Ers run to unite the whole city and to get everybody excited about. I'll be honest, I don't usually I think TEMC knows this. I don't usually make declarative statements, bold statements, anything like that. It is hard for me not to feel very confident after what we saw in Game two. Now, I know that going on the road is a different thing, but to me right now, this is almost not so much

about the adjustment conversation with the Wizards. I think the seventy Sixers, they've got the talent like Washington. If they're gonna have a shot, they got to play better. I thought it was a great win by the Sixers to really psychologically take an advantage in the series on Wednesday night.

I would say so only because they don't have the answers right, Like they're trying to double Joel and Alex Lennold certainly would have the size, but in general they don't really have the size, not just within bead Or. The schemes for them aren't working. The double teaming's not working. And then you know relative to the size as well. You know, like Ben was so aggressive even over Westbrook,

you know, who's an incredible athlete. But then you know, I can still in my mind see Bradley Bill, you know, like putting his arm bar on Ben's hips, and Simmons has got like seven or eight inches on him. He's just going over the top of him and powering in. So you know, the talent of the Sixers trumps that of the Wizards. And you know, Bill's had thirty three

points in both games. And you know, as you said last night on the radio, Brian, you know, anybody butt theory in terms of, you know, let Bill get his baskets, which oh, by the way, I think he's going to get him anyway, But here he was with thirty three points and he was minus twenty eight. So their best player had a tremendous offensive game, but was in there in the guts of the game when the Sixers dominated Washington.

So to your point about going down there. As much as the Sixers have dominated Washington here in Philadelphia, which I believe numbers now eleven consecutive wins and five straight this season overall, including the one win there, the Sixers have not excelled there and going on the road in the playoffs is a whole different animal, but a good test because if the Sixers are going to get where they need to go, they're obviously going to have to

win at home. Now you would say, well, wait a minute, the formula says they could just win all their home games in the East and get to the finals. But you got to steal some wins and you want to take care of business when you have a team on the ropes, and that's what lies ahead. But the first two games, particularly last night, I thought the Sixers played well well and when these guys played twenty five, twenty nine, twenty seven minutes, they put the game away, which is

great to see, Brian. I think though the team act did not address the elephant in the room, the selfish play last night of Ben Simmons. That's selfish guy scoring what I mean, I mean, how when can we see this guy stop shooting so much? I'm tired of it. He's a selfish guy. He's all about his points, all about Wait a minute, that's the argument people were calling me with the other day, that he didn't do that. I was shocked last night because I loved seeing that

Ben Simmons, the aggressive Ben Simmons. But I marvel since i've been home that in any way, this young man is a polarizing figure because I guess watching him most of his career from Afar before I returned home, I just tend to marvel at his skill set and what he brings. And I love watching great defense. But last night was the complete game out of Ben Simmons. That was a fun, fun performance last night. Let's get right into that. The main difference maker X factor, Ben Simmons,

right off the bat sets the tone. He equals his point total on a perfect three for three less than halfway through the first quarter. John I thought it was totally poetic. It was like, yes, he can make a basket, and it just it totally set the tone for the game. I love the fact, though, that the young man has a game where he makes other players better and on the defensive end. I always say, is there a night

that I don't see Ben Simmons bring it? I always see a strong His B game defensively is better than most players a game. So to me, again, I'm confounded by the fact that people will in call sports radio. It's one of the reasons we maybe don't take as many calls is to hear people talk about what he's deficient at. I'd rather talk about what he's really really good at. And he is a difference maker. And I believe defense travels team mac, you know, I mean, and

going on the road. If I know that my team can clamp down on people defensively, I think I feel better about their chances on the road. Yeah, what's really impressed me certainly this year and last year too, and you know, even going back further, he guarded Leonard in the playoffs. But he really gets into people. You know, one of our assistant coaches in years past who ended up coaching the Hawks, Lloyd Pierce, used to say, make him feel you, And that's what like Simmons like he's

getting up on people. It reminds me of like how Gary Payton guarded where he's taken away your space. And yet he's so athletic that he's able to be up there and be physical and make him feel him but at the same time able to move latterly and back up and so that he's not filing and it's just and then denying. There's a lot to it, but his athletic gifts and his want right, his fight, his desire,

his grit. Not a lot of guys want that. It's like in basketball teams like, oh, yeah, we want to run, Yeah, coach's let's be that stut. What coach doesn't say, we're gonna run, right when a guy gets a job, you hear is at any level college, we're gonna we're gonna run and we're gonna play defense. Oh, there's a novel cunt, but when you really get into it, you gotta run. It takes a lot of effort to fill the wings and get out and run, and Simmons well does that.

On offense, he leads to break. That's not my point. To point is defensively, he's getting after it. And as you say, on nights, when you're not scoring or the team's lackluster defense matters. In defense, you can show up and put forth the effort that makes a huge impact at that end of the floor. Listen, there's things about the sport that, no matter how much I watch it,

I'm never gonna understand. And I think one of the great things that Doc Rivers has brought this season is even when he's communicame to the public, he makes things sound so simple. And when he was talking about Ben Simmons game after Game two on when day night, he was talking about, Listen, we scored one hundred twenty five points game one. We dropped one hundred twenty in Game two. That's two hundred forty five points of the first two games.

He's like, we're scoring points, That's all I care about. That means that Ben is doing something to promote that just by virtue of Ben's game, whether he's putting the ball in the basket directly himself like he did in Game two, or facilitating like he did in Game one. Two hundred forty five points the first two games of playoff series. That's great, absolutely awesome. And isn't that what we're expecting in this series? That this was not going

to be a high stress series. Now, Look, I don't expect sweeps in every series is as Tom talks about, this is a team that doesn't have a great run in DC playing down there, and you find that with teams. But to me, if you could just be efficient, win the first series in five, win a second series in five. We did a little study on our show about how the average champion in the NBA plays eleven games in

their first two series. So in the modern era of us, since the playoffs have expanded to what they are, if you play eleven games, the average champions what they play in the first two rounds. So just be efficient, get three your series, do all the things. And I can't wait to see the Sixers team on the road and how they answer it because when a team that has a really, really good offensive game gets home, sometimes the crowd can helped elevate that. That's what we call a

deep dive. Yes, yes, every once in a while, I gotta keep up with Bob Cooney, you see, I'm constantly trying to Cooney helps my basketball. I Q so much on a daily basis, so I'm always trying to say if I can get Bob Cooney to say, wow, I didn't know that about basketball, I always feel like it's a win that sounds like me after three hall holes in golf, Like I've been golfing since I was eight.

I'm like, huh, I lie fifteen again nothing's changed. And then Brian, to your point about the two forty five, that sounds like the over under which we seem to get fast every quarter of sports and the like if

you will you know what I mean. But now I love that about what coaches said, And that's basically been like the mantra for the year, and that is whether it should be we should make fourteen threes or whatever, and that is just win and and get better and improve and move the needle and develop to your potential throughout the course of the year. And I think one element to that during this there's been a lot of

breathing room, right. I mean, the Sixers played their second game in eleven days, and that first week was different because of the whole play in but even the Sunday, Wednesday and now Saturday thing, and like by way of example, as we speak, today's a film session and rest and recovery. Guys are going to probably get shots at. But I think the team can actually get better during this time.

I mean, it's it's like somebody a college basketball team who plays in the n I t well, the coach isn't loving it because they get to still practice, right, I mean it's not rather. You know, obviously you want to get to the final and whatever, the NC Double, but you get the practice time for your young players.

You still get to develop and work on things. And to that end, I think the Sixers, you know, rest, recovery, film study, practice, a little bit of practice, all of this as you try to get to the ceiling that'll give yourselves the best team and the best opportunity to actually compete for a championship. One more thing about Ben before we move on. I feel like he's handled all the outside noise great. And it hasn't just been the

last forty eight seventy two hours. I mean, remember earlier in the season there was chatter about the president of basketball operations, former franchise and where a certain player might go and all that, and I think Ben has stood up there handled things really professionally. I loved this quote after last night. He's not trying to stick it to anybody, just wants to go out there and try and win

a championship. I think that on the surface, who knows what's happening behind the scenes, but I think he's put out a really good public tone. I love the when athletes, you know, embraced their community. This is going to be the strangest thing you ever hear from a radio host. I hope none of them are listening to sports talk radio till the day of the parade, because I hear the most nonsensical things on a daily basis, and many, many times sometimes they've been known to slip out of

my mouth. So just steer clear of it. Guys, get in your bubble this time, free to move around and just stay focused on it. It's exciting. Well, I would think so, and you know, you've definitely heard of stories. I know, Chris Paul, I think Lebron, you know, get off social media this time. But I would think, certainly in this era, not just this year or this month, this week with Ben Simmons, but just in general, you've got to block out the noise, and you know, with

the WMI, you gotta keep what's most important. And you know, athletes a lot of their time, and especially now where they're precluded from going certain places because of the guidelines and whatnot, you got to stay with your loved ones and your friends and your family, and hopefully those people can help keep it real for you also. But boy, there there's just too much out there. And I don't even really go there, but I just know because you have to remain confident. Like you think back to Iverson,

what did he call himself? He called him the greatest player there was And you can start to quibble, but that doesn't matter. That was the athlete's mindset. That's the psyche of an athlete. There's nobody does it better. And if you know, these guys got to trick themselves a little bit. It's a you know, it's a mental thing where you have to be a conquer or. You can't. I try to say the word pessivity when you're asking me prior to the game last night, Brian, would Joel

be aggressive? You have to be aggressive because if you're not, you're gonna get swarm. So you have to have an athlete a mindset of I am gonna I'm a monster truck and I'm gonna squish everybody in my path. Well, continue the conversation about Joel Embiid. In a moment, we have to tell you about DraftKings first and foremost, they

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sports Book for details. Gambling problem called one eight hundred gambler. So speaking of the big fella, the MVP candidates, they said it the game. This shirt as a completely slowed down from me. You know, I'm just thinking my towel, just letting it comes from me by tonight. You know that you knows be sending three guys on me. You know I'm making the vocy. He said after the game. He feels like things are slowing down. It's looking like it. And yeah, he put up some really nice scoring numbers

twenty two and under twenty seven minutes. But even though only only three assists, I thought he really helped promote some great ball movement that Doc Rivers talked about after the games. Him making the right reads is I think just as imperative at times as him scoring the basketball. And he was great and he saw a lot of multi wizard Man coverage last night. Yeah, I'm it's I wonder whether Doc wants it to be more like Game one or Game two. I love the idea that I

like it when things run through Joel Embiid. I mean to me, I see him as the cheap code that no other team has an answer for. So I always want to see it run through Embiid. But then Sunday afternoon,

what do the officials do? They took him out of a game, And Tom, I heard some of your calls in post game, but I was I was shocked that that first game was officiated like that, because that would intimidate me as an NBA head coach to wondering, am I gonna get that in a big critical game on the road, like Doc's gotta be wondering, are they gonna during Game three and Game four in the road? Are they gonna officiate like that? Am I gonna be caught

shorthanded early on? It's a very difficult navigation game that these coaches got to work as far as who's working the games. And I'm saying that as an O'Hara grad where almost every single referee in the NBA is from my high school, So I believe, No, it's tough, but I think it still holds true today. Like it wasn't just fouls in that game. There were a lot of travel calls at world, so you have to navigate above that.

You know, you almost have to account for that. And look, these guys, this is such a difficult job and we're all I always remember and John you would probably but

the flyers the referee, I don't know. In some Montreal series in the seventy Leon Steckel or whatever that was, the eighty Stanley Cup Finals Game six, not that we remember the offside goal that he wasn't even here, but that guy's name is stuck a still mud as fans, and I'm sure football fans could say this head or the other about some NFL referee, But look our guys in the training and the everything that's gone through with the NBA referees and the program and then the everything

they've implemented. It's trying. They're trying to get better and better. But obviously it's part of it whether they're good or bad, or this or that. Look the foul on Joel and Doc said it last night pregame. It was a foul. It was this, It was a tickie tech foul. It was this very the first file that he had against Alex Lm and that started things going. But that's what happens. You had two players last night spraining their ankles, Westbrook

for them, and Curry and Harris for the sixers. I'll trouble. You just never know, and that's why you kind of have to block back to that block it out thing and just do what you do well. And going on the road is tough. I mean, like, here's another thing, and I used to say this like in other ways, if you win the first game in a playoff series on the road, you are not winning that second game.

It's just kind of there's almost like, and I say this somewhat facetiously, there's like an unwritten memo, but it's it's just that difficult, right, So it's gonna be hard to be sure, but just back to and beat a little bit. And he's the last guy out there that shoots around prior to going into the locker room. So he's got Chris Babcock, he's got Dwayne Jones, Andrew's working with them, and they were showing him a lot of

faces jumping out at him, giving him the looks. It's like a steady diet of preparation for him to handle things. He's watching a lot of the video and learning and certainly all the hours that we don't see where he's sitting with coaches and in practice and whatnot in terms of handling traps, where it's coming from and whatnot. So it is constantly going to it's they work on it

all the time, and it's still an evolution. He's not perfect, he still has turnovers and whatnot, but it's getting that ball out of the traps or being decisive or facing up. All the things that we've seen him do, he's going

to continue to do. And the different devices or the way that the Sixers play him, whether they put him in the middle or face him up on the wing or put him on the block, and then also how teams play him is going to be something that will change on a game by game, series by series basis. And he's got the talent and now he's just got to solve the puzzle to help the Sixers play the

best that they can play. There maybe some people out there that aren't just getting acquainted with the podcasting space. But one of the reasons that I knew of John Kincaid before he came to Philadelphia was he's been doing podcasting for years with a gentleman by the name of Shack. Who this guy Shack, I don't know. To raise his visibility, I've done a lot to He was hardly known. I don't think anybody had ever heard of him before we

work together from obscure talent to megastar. You know, I was just I'm glad to share my stage with him a little bit over the years. I mean, it's it's just just to give him some exposure. I mean, come on, the guy. You never see him anywhere. Literally, he's like a hermit. The best part about it, though, is I believe we've gotten word that the TNT crew will travel in the Eastern Conference playoffs Shack and Shack will come and do a live edition of The John Kinkade Show.

That's incredible. We announced that the other day in the show. So as long as TANT travels, Shaquille O'Neal will co host on The John Kinkade Show with the crew live here in Philadelphia. We just have to find the venue to put it in. We're thinking about the parking lot. I like that actually having a stage set up in the parking lot week and more control the space. But he's yeah, Shaq is a amazing individual, and I tell everybody that a great blessing to have come into life.

Thank for Ernie Johnson Junior who pointed Shaquille in my direction because we did not know each other, and he did not know that I lived in Atlanta at the time, because he didn't listen to sports talk radio locally, and Ernie Johnson Junior pointed him in my direction, and and the rest is my seventeen year old as a uncle Shack. So I'd say that always makes you one of the most popular kids. When Shaq will face time you or something like that, it's it's big points, big points, big

dad points scored. There is that with that that is so cool. Um, you know, it's interesting. He loves the Sixers by the way. He loves the Sixers. He loves what he's seen. He thinks Joel em beat and he's told us many times. Joel Embiad has answered the has answered the bell, has has taken his game to an entirely different level, taking his preparation to a new level, taking his attitude to a new level. The snarky, the

you know, the fierceness that he attacks things with. And when Shaquille's getting on younger players, people always say, always hating on the young guys. No, he wants to see them all be great. He doesn't care about one of his records being broken or anything later. He wants to see the young players be great and make their money the way he makes money still today. So it's it's

and he believes Joel Embiad has done just that. That's that's what I was gonna ask you a bat because in listening to him on your show earlier this week, you can tell when you listen to him, and he's talked about this stuff on inside the NBA on TNT as well. It's almost like a big brother thing where the expectation is set at such a high level because he has that much belief in what Joel can be.

And this season, based on what Shacks been saying to what you just mentioned, John, it sounds like he really feels like it's all coming together for Joe. He does. I mean, I got to I got to sit down with Shack and Kobe to do their first interview that they ever did together after they had been not united,

before they ever did the one for the NBA. I got to sit with both of them do a long form podcast and people can still find it out their big podcast with Shack, and it's Shack understands the game. Like I said to them both, I said, who's to blame for your relationship being poor when you guys had a working relationship, And Shack took seventy percent of the blame and Kobe agreed with them, which I thought was funny, and he said, but he took his ownership of it.

He wants to see the next generation do well like they're not. He's not hating on anybody, but he's going to push, and he's gonna prod, and he's gonna, you know, get guys to to you know, to try to be better. He has the utmost respect for Joel Embiad's game, though, and he thinks there's a whole nother tier to it. Wow, my eyes aren't good enough Team AC to say, like you've you've seen the greatest up close and personal and

different generations go through. I can't imagine that there's a whole nother level to Jowell Embiad's game, because that is a frightening fact. And we're going to need multiple purchase for multiple parades if that ever happened. That's great. No, he does, I mean, think about it. He hasn't played as much basketball as some of these guys, right that started playing AU when they were ten eleven years old. Look,

Joe and Brian. You talked to Bill self, it's just ten years a little bit more maybe, and then with that athletic skill set, he's right, you know, and all those things that you talked about in terms of being in shape the basketball IQ and the physical gifts and the desire to be great and to push your franchise toward the expectations of both yourself, the team, your teammates, the franchise itself, the community, the city and so and that's and then when guys get a taste of that,

they want more, you know, And so let's hope and I would not disagree. I agree, high ceiling. That's a great high ceiling. Brian. I don't know about you, but that's that's scary for the rest of the Eastern Conference. We asked Doc Rivers that same question recently, like do you think this is it? Or there's another notch? He's like, oh, there's another notch. And when it gets to that point, goodbye league. Will that notch ever, be guys where we

see him play more frequently? Because it is something that I I wonder about, the bubble wrap, the load management. It's something that honestly, it annoys me as a fan because I always think of the consumer and the guys who want to see the best players in a certain amount of games, and and then teams just shut it down. And it's not just jo Ellenbeid. So I'm not just making it that is it is something about the NBA

product I think that they need to address. There's too many nights were I'm fired up to see something on my couch or whatever, and then the product I get is, well, they're resting everybody tonight. That definitely happened down the stretch of the regular season across the board in the league, which was for me and listen, I'm not digging ditches, but it was the last two weeks of the regular season. It was hard because so many teams rested guys. I

don't know what you're gonna say, Team Mac. I felt like it was encouraging to John what you brought up that Joe was available in back to backs this year, and we saw him in back to backs, and I think the ironic thing is that ten games stretch that he missed. The more I think about it, I wonder if that was not one of the best things that could have happened to this team, because they gained confidence that at least in years past I don't think they had that they figured out and how to win without

him out there. I would say yes, and yes, clearly, and this year was different, right because the league has made strides and made efforts to spread out the schedule. We used to play four games and five nights routinely, particularly for the Sixers. Their second West coast trip was

almost always that. And obviously, you know, it came to a head like a couple three years ago when all of a sudden the network games didn't have the top stars, and the league heard about it, I would think from the sponsors and from those those networks, and they weren't delivering the top players, and so they have spaced out the schedule. But again this year was an anomaly because it was shrunk into five months, even though they reduced it by ten games. And to Brian, to your point,

like for Joel, he's been hurt a lot of these times. Now, load management is not going away, right, Sports science teams that you know, all whatever the whole numbers and whatnot, they go into all that. That part's not going away. And so and these guys are unbelievable cornerstone pieces to franchises. So they're going to protect their athletes and health and safety of the players is always going to be paramone

and it should be. But to your point, everybody I think would concur John and that you want to see, you know, when you tune in on Saturday night, the prime time on ABC, you want to see the combatants in the competition you you hope to see and that's

what But what's been build and whatnot? But I would think so, but you know the days of Carl Malone eighty two, eighty one, eighty, Michael Jordan eighty eight eighty, Ron James, though does it Yeah, I don't know that you're going to see that as much, and we're not, frankly, but it's certainly a legitimate, you know, concern that you have because, like you said, you want to see the best of the best compete against each other whenever they're

going head to head. You know, Brian, we had Mark Cuban on the Shack podcast and I was pressing him for things. I said, I make you commissioner and he goes, well, that'll never happen. But he was along the lines of me and he said, first of all, he said, I've been pushing forever. He said, I want the league to start on Christmas, and I want to own the summer, and I want to have our championship be in August

before football season ends. And he said he wanted the whole stage to himself, but he wanted them to start a Christmas so it would be like Christmas Week is when the NBA kicks off. I wonder if we're I wonder what we're going to see as a season next year, like when they are going to if they push this thing back, and I hope they do. The players need more rest. This last offseason honestly was a little bit of a joke, the amount of time that they gave

them to bounce back. But the players wanted the money, the owners wanted the money, and so this is what we got. Well, I could tell you right now the Yeah, the schedule is going to be the same. I mean, Adam Silver said he wants to get back to a normal schedule, so they're gonna start like Halloween. Well that's that's typically what's happened. Everything this year was predicated on the Olympics. That's why there was a hard out for July twenties. The first thing the NBA does every year

is set the schedule and everything falls off that. And so to your point, and like I said, I interrupted, I apologize, but like Mark Cuban got his win the last two years, it is going into this summer, and obviously with the restart last year, I think with the NBA, and this is not a novel concept, but they don't want to go head to head with the National Football League, and so in summer. I mean, I think traditionally we've

all basketball's a winter sport. So we'll see. But you know, look, the eyeballs are going to be on for the next six weeks, seven weeks, and you know the NBA that there's so many great storylines and it's going to be must CTV and the Sixers are right at the center of that. That's awesome. That's just awesome. I'm a selfish guy. I want to be able to come to work every day and talk about a championship run. I want to talk about drama than the night before. What are we

complaining about? What are we excited about? So I am a selfish guy. Just get get me all through the summer with a great storyline. All right, guys, as we wrap this up, what can change the adjustment? What changes for Game three? I don't know. If you're the Sixersn's not just wizard's question. We can go around the horn. What what could change? What could the Sixers do better and what's you know, got to happen for the Wizards

if they want a shot at this thing. I love the I love the defensive approach the Sixers have taken in this series. And I think Team Max said it earlier about sort of like the Bradley Beale's going to get his I'm totally fine with that. And they've frustrated the hell out of Brian Westbrook. That Russell Westbrook, they

frustrated him in a big way. I hope that frustration continues because I wonder about the fight in him, if the Sixers can get up big in Game three, if that team has it in them, or whether they start thinking about where their vacations are the week after. I think Game threes it put the put the foot on the throat, come away with the victory, and I'm I would almost guarantee it'll be a sweep. Well, for one thing, what could change is they're gonna They're not going out.

I don't ever question them. The competitive drive of Russell Westbrook like, and he could play better. I mean he was two of ten last night. Now as a frustration is more as what I'm saying now, I hear you and it hinges on his health too, right, he's got to have his game is based on explosiveness and if his ankle is less than one hundred percent, so we'll see. But at Berton's fouls out no threes. I mean, the guy had eight threes against US a couple of years ago,

so he's totally capable. And they're gonna come out with a fire and then you know, I think it's to the sixers too. We talked about jump on him, but match match that energy and at some point Washington's going to make a run. And the thing about it, you know, like Doc Rivers talks about, there are no accidental champions. You're not going to back into a title and that's

for who you play down the road. But it could be boiled down, you know, into a micro thing where you know, in a given game, you're going to meet a challenge. It's not gonna be given to You're gonna have to earn it. And winning on the road in the playoffs is that you have to meet that challenge and overtake them. This game might come down to the wire and it all gets down to execution and doing what's necessary to a maximizer possessions and score when it

matters and get stops and so we'll see. I mean, it's it's one thing that I liked, and I talked about the gap and the schedule. It's now, you know, you decelerate again a day of film today and then you get down there tomorrow and then you build back up a crescendo. It's almost like a mini version of an NFL schedule with the way these days in between. And that'll change a little bit as the series goes on.

Before I think for the Sixers that bodes well. And for Washington they got to steal a little bit with kind of a lot of the elements that we talked about where they've been deficient. So it's going to be exciting. But I obviously by Memorial as the clock turns on the holiday weekend, we'll know where this thing is going. Brian, I want to know though, before we get out of here, what about the wine? And is that champagne on over Tom's right shoulder? Does he keep the good stuff out

public so his guests see it? Or is that office? Is that office booze? I'm just it's like I'm trying to figure this out. I don't even drink. So the one that the Sixers, uh, the nineteen eighty three vintage, right, Bran Huh. And then even funnier part is there's like one of those cocktails shakers that's never had liquid in it. So wow, the built ins have to have something built into them that Brian, we can we can come on over and help them clear off his shelves. That yeah,

very true. I'll show you what I have stashed. What I've stashed on my cabinet next to my position is my wife's a speech language therapist, and I have a tub full of animal puppets. So I think Team Max back from all puppets far more interests ipa, so selfish, I have a bunch of different beer craft right. What I think we need is if the Sixers have a big gap, like if I saw today worth the if the Hawks and the Knicks go seven games, the Sixers

next games wouldn't begin till June eighth. I think we need to have a special day after puppet show like where the you know, the puppets, I mean, just think about it. Not the program for you, but I just think about it. Fanatic about the playoffs puppet edition, right, here, we'll rerack this panel and we'll do don't write it off. It's it's there's no stupid ideas, just stupid people that offer them. Uh. This is great John Pleasure virtually speaking

with you for the first time. Everyone. You can check out his show Mornings on ninety seven five, six to ten. Not just saying this because he joined us. It is authentic quality radio. It's not forced. I really I've enjoyed listening great crew to great crew. Ye, it's fun. T Max just he's get it get excited evening. We play that every morning. I'm evenings on ninety seven five. There he is. We play it every bookends. Get excited because we are. We're excited about this run. Thanks Brian, Thanks

their team Mac awesome great stuff fellas. Thank you very much to Tom McGuinness and John Kincaid. Thank you out there for listening. One programming reminder before we sign off, The Scoop. It's the daily five minute Update podcast from the seventy Sixers Podcast Network. Search seventy six Ers Scoop

wherever you get your pods and follow along today. We used to run that show also on this feed the seventy six Ers Podcast Network main feed for the playoffs, we're putting on its own feed, so search seventy Sixers Scoop and the next episode of Fanatic About the Playoffs will drop on Sunday, following what is hopefully a third straight victory for the seventy Sixers. To open up this series,

talked to next time see Him. You've been listening to Fanatic About the Playoffs from the seventy Sixers podcast network, presented by DraftKings and ninety seven five to Fanatic look for new episodes the day after every seventy Sixers playoff game, and follow the seventy Sixers podcast network by searching seventy Sixers podcasts wherever you listen to podcast